The Covenant
by Kira4Schiffer
Summary: To what extent could someone save his marriage? Orihime and Ulquiorra were just ordinary people, who needed to learn about love and marriage. AU.


**Hi, I'm back! Sorry, something upsetting came up in my life and I lost my interest in writing because of that. I haven't really solved that problem of mine yet, but thank God I can get my mood back in writing fanfiction.**

**Anyway, have you guys read the latest chapters of Bleach? Man, I know Bleach has been disaster for me ever since Full Bring arc, but I can't just drop it because after years of reading the series, I want to see the ending. At this rate, the only satisfying ending for me that I can think of is Aizen being the sole survivor, since I know Kubo won't bring back Ulquiorra and Ulquihime won't be canon.**

**Okay, I need to stop talking non sense here. This one will be a oneshot.**

**Enjoy reading.**

**Disclaimer: I don't have interest to compete for Bleach with Kubo.**

* * *

They fought again. What's the reason this time? Orihime didn't even remember it. All she remembered was Ulquiorra came home late, she screamed at him, accused him of cheating, and then like always she stormed out of the house. Right. Nothing unusual.

'_What triggered it?'_

Orihime searched from her memory. What happened before the fight?

She remembered that evening Ulquiorra sent her a quick message, telling her that he would be late that night because he had a meeting with a client. Well, the late meeting was not the problem for her, but who he was meeting with was definitely the problem. His client turned out to be Meninas McAllon, Ulquiorra's old flame back in their first college year. Not to mention she resembled Orihime a lot, except for the hair and eyes' color. Orihime didn't really know her but from what she knew she's a beautiful and smart young woman. She even dubbed as "the rising goddess from Karakura" as the result of her achievement in modeling.

She knew her husband was a young successful attorney, and of course had clients from various backgrounds, and she didn't doubt, most of them are lovely women. She was not blind, she knew perfectly that Ulquiorra was a girl's magnet. Even she had slight physical attraction to him back then. But now, why it had to be that Meninas? Of all people, why her?

'_Stupid Ulquiorra.'_

* * *

"_Orihime, I told you she's just a client of mine. Nothing else. Why are you being like this?"_

"_Don't expect me to believe that! Everyone knows she's your ex, and I'm sure she still has feeling for you! If not, why she chose you as her lawyer, huh? I know it!" she screamed at him._

_Ulquiorra massaged his temple for he had headache attack from all this yelling._

"_Woman, I'm her best choice, you know that. And it's not important if she still has feeling for me or not because I'm already married to you and I'm for sure don't have any feeling spared for her. Why can't you just let this go already?"_

_He did his best to stay calm even though he was tempted to shake his wife so bad. She was being unreasonable here. Why did they have to fight over something unimportant like this? If only she could stop assuming things…._

"_No!" she screeched. Tears leaked from her eyes._

_Ulquiorra's heart broke to see his wife like that. What went wrong? Why did they always have to fight? He didn't care for the familiar wrenching in his heart. All he cared was to capture her fragile body in his arms and took away her pain. It killed him to see her like that._

_Ulquiorra headed to her. His hand came forward to cup her rosy cheek, but his advance was stopped by her voice._

"_Stop right there. Please don't come any closer," she choked between tears._

_He swallowed the lump in his throat and drew back his hand. It's hurt. Love was hurt._

_He just stood there staring at the flawless floor while his wife passed him to escape from the house, mumbling 'don't wait for me' to him. As he heard the sound of the door closed, he considered himself had failed being a husband._

* * *

Was this jealousy that she was feeling now? Was she somehow being insecure? Meninas was a famous model with brain, of course she's someone she couldn't ever compete with. She's just a mere housewife.

Orihime chuckled bitterly. What did she expect? That Ulquiorra would always be loyal to her? Please, their marriage didn't even base on love. He just married her out of pity.

She felt like the perfect picture of misery; walking here on the street alone at night, in the middle of heavy rain. She was soaking wet and shivering.

Orihime sniffled. Life was cruel to her.

'_Ulquiorra, I'm cold…'_

* * *

_She was gasping for air. Orihime couldn't breathe. Her chest hurt, a lot. She felt her heart would be bursting anytime now. She needed to be out of here, now. And without delaying any longer, Orihime escaped from the hall to the garden in the back of it. There, she should breathe easier now. She tried the process of deep inhaling and exhaling._

_Once. Twice. Thrice._

_And then she cried because she couldn't stand it anymore. The pain just refused to go away._

"_Drink this."_

_A hand out of nowhere offered her a glass of water. Orihime looked to the speaker and found a pair of brilliant emeralds watching hers. He nudged her gently._

"_Drink this," the baritone voice repeated._

_Orihime took the glass and gulped the content. The man took the empty glass away from her. He drew her into his arms and let her rest there. Ulquiorra caressed her hair as she poured her heart to him._

"_I lost him. I lost him forever," she sobbed._

_The man didn't respond and just trying to soothe her. His opinion didn't matter. She was all that mattered._

_After seemed like hours staying in that position, Ulquiorra spoke up, "Want to go somewhere?"_

_Orihime stared at him in confusion. Her eyes still brimmed with tears._

"_But we are still in the middle of the reception! What if Kurosaki-kun and Rukia-san-"_

"_Shhh," he cut her off, "it'll be alright. I'll tell the newlyweds that I need to save a damsel in distress."_

_And he captured her lips in a simple kiss._

* * *

'_Where's she?_' he growled inwardly.

Ulquiorra couldn't tell if he's angry or worried over his foolish wife. He was frustrated. But he needed to be cool headed to find her. His wife didn't even bring her cell phone with her, she just stormed off like that. It had been four hours since she left the house, which meant it's already two in the morning. She shouldn't be far, he was sure.

Ulquiorra didn't understand. Did he make a mistake by marrying her? Was she not happy all this time? Had he failed her? Maybe….he should let her go?

To be honest this wouldn't be the first time he contemplated such an idea. But when he married her back then, he was thinking of growing old together with her, not a year of unhappy married life and then divorce.

Ulquiorra sighed. What did he need to do to save their marriage?

'_Orihime, wherever you are, please be safe.'_

* * *

"_Care to explain this?"_

_Orihime gasped loudly when she saw her husband sitting there on their bed when she entered their bedroom. What made her uneasy was the fact that her husband wore grim expression. At first, she didn't understand, but when she saw what her husband was holding, she paled visibly._

"_Orihime, care to explain this?" Ulquiorra pressured her._

_She was anxious. Even if it's hidden behind his calm façade, she could see it clearly. He was furious. Orihime inhaled deeply. She couldn't lie anymore._

"_Those are contraception pills," she answered nervously._

_Ulquiorra sighed. "I know what they are, Orihime. I'm not stupid. What I want to know is why you have them and why you hid it from me."_

_Orihime nibbled on her lip. What excuse could she offer?_

_Sensing her discomfort, Ulquiorra tried a calmer approach._

"_Orihime, are you not ready to have a child with me? If you are, just say so. I can wait. Even though I really want to have a baby with you soon, for you I can wait. I won't do anything to you without your consent, so no need to worry. Okay?"_

_Orihime sniffled. She shook her head furiously, making him confuse._

"_What is it?" he urged her to talk._

_Orihime gritted her teeth. She just hoped her answer wouldn't make Ulquiorra feel offended._

"_I-I don't want a child who's born not from love," she answered hesitantly._

_Suddenly, Ulquiorra's expression changed drastically. He was in rage._

"_Because I'm not Kurosaki, huh?!" he snapped angrily._

_Orihime watched him in disbelief. "No, you're wrong. That's-"_

_Her husband ignored her._

"_Is the thought of bearing my child so revolting to you? To think that I always think of building a little family with you…God, I'm so stupid!" he stated bitterly._

_She tried to deny it desperately, but he continued to ignore her. That night, an unimaginable big crack of their relationship had formed. It's just a matter of time when that crack would shatter what's left from their relationship._

* * *

She didn't want to be here. It's cold. Without Ulquiorra she would feel cold wherever she was. She didn't want to lose the most important to her anymore. Life already took away her brother from her. Life also took away the man she loved for years from her, and gave him to her own best friend. And now, did she have to lose Ulquiorra? Could she save their marriage when it's so clear that he was not happy with her? Orihime encircled her arms around her body. It's cold.

Suddenly, among pitter patter of the rain, she heard someone called her name distantly. At first, she was sure it was her imagination, but she could feel the voice got closer and it's familiar. Orihime turned her head and saw her husband just four meters away from her. Sensing her knowing him there, Ulquiorra halted. He observed her. She was soaking wet and shivering.

'_She must be cold.'_

Ulquiorra outstretched his hand. "Let's go home, Orihime," he offered.

Orihime was so tempted to reach that hand and go home with her husband, but no, she was not ready yet. That's why she chose to cross the street, away from Ulquiorra. In her rush, she didn't see a car coming her way in high speed.

"Orihime, watch out!"

Seeing the car coming towards her, she couldn't even move, couldn't even scream. She just stood there frozen. Till this time, she was always the one who's being left, so maybe being the one who left was not so bad at all?

'_I hope I have lived a good life. If only I have told Ulquiorra how much he means to me…'_

That was her last thought before she was pushed away from the road.

"W-wha-" she stuttered.

She looked at where she had been just seconds ago and what she found shook her to the core. There, on the road lay her husband's body. He was surrounded by red, his blood. Ulquiorra laid there motionless.

Orihime crawled to him. She didn't know where she got her strength from, after witnessing such a horrible scene in form of her husband. When she reached him, she brought his hand to cup her cheek.

"Ulquiorra, wake up. Please, wake up," she pleaded.

She didn't even notice people screaming around them to call ambulance. All her senses focused on him. Only him. He's the only thing mattered.

"Ulquiorra, please don't leave me. Please, Ulquiorra. I can't lose you. I don't want to lose you. Please come back to me!" she cried_._

'_Not him_', she thought, _'anyone but him.'_

_S_he kissed his palm. His hand felt cold.

'_No…'_

Her eyes widened. She was never this scared before.

* * *

Everthing happened so fast. Upon seeing Orihime in dangerous situation, without thinking he dashed towards her and pushed her out of the way. The next thing he knew, his body felt numb. He just felt so tired. He wanted to sleep.

'_It's alright. Orihime is safe. Orihime…'_

Ulquiorra's mind jolted awake suddenly, causing him able to open his eyes. The sight greeted him was his wife's beautiful face.

"O-orihime…." he whispered weakly.

Surprised, she opened her eyes and saw her most favorite pair of emeralds.

"Ulquiorra…" she sobbed, "I'm sorry…please don't leave me…"

"Shhh…don't cry Orihime…"

Orihime though couldn't stop crying. Ulquiorra on the other hand felt his consciousness start leaving him.

'_No, not yet. I need to tell her…'_

"Orihime, I love you."

Somehow, he managed to tell her that before everything went blank. He didn't hear Orihime responded the words he had longed to hear from her.

* * *

"Orihime, I love you."

Those words made her heart soar in unexplainable happiness. Despite everything they had been through, he never hated her! He loved her! She needed to tell him also.

"Ulquiorra, I love you too. So very much."

But he never heard her. In the end, it's only her, the roar of ambulance, and the sound of pitter patter of rain.

* * *

Orihime jolted awake and panted, as if she had run for miles. She sat there on the bed, calming her breath and heartbeat. Beside her, someone stirred up from his sleep and reached for a glass of water on the nightstand, then offered it to her. She mumbled a quick 'thanks' before gulping the content. The man played with a stand of her long orange hair and kissed the top of her head.

"Nightmare, huh?"

She just nodded.

"Did you dream about me again?"

She nodded again.

"What am I this time? An android? Alien? Shinigami?" he teased.

Orihime giggled and pecked his lips.

"Nah, fortunately this time you're still my husband, but…"

"But what?" he inquired.

Orihime shook her head. "Nothing. It's just something in the past."

He searched her eyes and found sincerity. Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, if you don't want to talk about it," he stated uneasily.

"Nope," she answered happily. Orihime hugged her husband. "Come on, let's go back to sleep. The baby is tired," she grinned silly.

Ulquiorra huffed before smiled softly.

"Alright. Good night Mrs. Schiffer," he kissed her temple, "and good night baby Schiffer," he kissed Orihime's big round stomach.

Orihime felt so lucky. She was blessed with a loving husband and a baby on the way. She could never thank God enough for bringing her husband back to life. Back then, she thought she had lost him, that she had lost her everything. But now, looking at her life, her heart was filled with joy. Life was good, and she was grateful for it. Really.

* * *

_**1 Peter 4: 8**_

"_**Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."**_

* * *

**This is special for one of my reviewers, Guest17. I hope this is satisfying enough.**

**Well, for you who forget, Meninas McAllon is the quincy girl who resembles Orihime. I think she will be perfect as Ulquiorra's ex because well, she looks like Orihime.**

**And yeah, the "cold" thingie I got from Mikasa Ackerman from Shingeki no Kyojin. Credit to Isayama Hajime-sensei. Do you guys read the manga? Well, I recommend it.**

**Sorry for the OOCness. After two months without posting anything, I need to get back in shape. Well, please support my other fictions. I'll try to write more (and continue the ones I need to).**

**God bless you. **


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